After the two were seated, Hermit Xuyuan said apologetically, "Fellow Daoist Ning, I apologize. I failed to properly restrain Fellow Daoist Pei and Fellow Daoist Yuchan regarding their matters."
Ning Fa smiled and shook his head, "This matter has been temporarily resolved, so there's no need for you to say more, Hermit Xuyuan. Besides, in the end, it had nothing to do with you."
Upon hearing Ning Fa's use of the word "temporarily," a wry smile flickered in Hermit Xuyuan's eyes.
At this moment, Ning Fa waved his hand in front of him, and in a burst of light, a palm-sized blood-colored banner appeared. Mysterious blood-colored runes pulsed on it, making it look extraordinary.
"Hermit Xuyuan, this is that Blood Li Banner," Ning Fa said solemnly.
Hermit Xuyuan's expression immediately turned serious as he carefully examined the Blood Li Banner, a faint cyan light flashing in his eyes.
Soon, he turned to Ning Fa and said with utmost sincerity, "Fellow Daoist Ning, thank you for your intervention this time. Without one of the main banners, even if the Blood Li Banner could eventually be formed, its grade and power would undoubtedly be greatly diminished."
Ning Fa waved his hand, but he was somewhat concerned. "But this main banner isn't fully refined yet. Will that cause any problems?"
Hermit Xuyuan smiled. "You don't need to worry about that, Fellow Daoist Ning. This banner has already reached eighty percent completion. As long as it's further refined with some precious materials and secret techniques, it should be fine."
With that, Hermit Xuyuan put away the Blood Li Banner.
He then looked at Ning Fa, whose expression was solemn, and chuckled, "I can see that you have many questions, Fellow Daoist. Please, feel free to speak. With your current strength and status, you are entitled to know all classified secrets. Afterward, I will also convene the Elder Council to nominate you as a new Governing Elder."
Ning Fa showed no surprise at this. After a moment of thought, he said, "I do have a question, and I hope Hermit Xuyuan can answer it. I would like to know about seeking aid from the Great Qin Cultivation World. To which kind of power are we seeking help? As far as I know, the Great Qin Cultivation World is a top-tier cultivation realm in the Human Realm. To them, our Cangyuan might be nothing more than a remote backwater, and they would likely disdain us. However, from my previous conversations with Fellow Daoist Biwu and Fellow Daoist Sang, they both seem quite confident about this request for aid, so I am very curious about the reason behind it."
Hermit Xuyuan did not seem overly surprised by Ning Fa's question. A smile touched his lips as he said, "Fellow Daoist Ning, do you know that the Wushi Demonic Palace, the Taiqing Sect, and the Yuan Cha Gate, these three great sects, are actually branch sects established by powerful forces from the Great Qin Cultivation World who sent people to our Cangyuan? This dates back as far as hundreds of thousands of years ago. This is also the common practice of these powerful forces in Great Qin – to establish branch sects in weaker cultivation realms, rule those areas, and extract spiritual material resources to supply their main sects. However, later, with the rise of the Demon Race in the Cloud Break Mountain Range, our connection with Great Qin was directly severed. And at that time, the strength of the Cloud Break demons was something even the Great Qin Cultivation World could not ignore. Moreover, just as you said, Fellow Daoist Ning, in the eyes of Great Qin, our Cangyuan was merely a remote region, not worth the risk of war with the Cloud Break demons for those three sects, so they abandoned Cangyuan."
Ning Fa was greatly shocked upon hearing this. He never expected that Cangyuan's two most powerful sects, along with the mysterious Yuan Cha Gate, were actually from Great Qin. This was completely different from the Seven Saints Sect, which came to Cangyuan because of the mysterious True Spirit relic.
Immediately, Ning Fa's heart sank further. The Yuan Cha Gate had such an extraordinary origin. It sounded like the Yuan Cha Gate was an existence on par with the Wushi Demonic Palace and the Taiqing Sect in the Great Qin Cultivation World; otherwise, those two major sects would not have allowed them to come to Cangyuan to develop together. If it were in the past, it would have been fine, but now, if Great Qin were to send reinforcements, and Cangyuan's Yuan Cha Gate were to reconnect with its main sect in Great Qin, how would he seek trouble with the Yuan Cha Gate in the future?
At this point, Ning Fa was puzzled again. "Since these three major forces in Cangyuan have long been cut off from their main sects in Great Qin, and the demons in the Cloud Break Mountain Range still exist, can the three major sects of Great Qin still send people to provide aid?"
A flicker of an unreadable expression crossed Hermit Xuyuan's eyes as he slowly said, "Under normal circumstances, these three major sects would indeed likely ignore it, but things are different now. This involves another matter. Fellow Daoist Ning, you might not know this, but the Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh where you are located actually hides a great secret. This great marsh was formed by a mysterious power thirty thousand years ago, and the cause of all this might be an extraterrestrial object, which could very well be an unimaginably precious treasure."
Ning Fa's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he thought of the information left by the Ice Phoenix Ancestor Bing Chen. What Hermit Xuyuan was referring to was clearly that True Spirit relic.
"At that time, the Pavilion Master of our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion was a Spirit Transformation Cultivator. He detected the anomaly immediately and went there. Because the Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh was close to the Tianli territory, a Spirit Transformation Ancestor from Tianli also went there at the time. The two traveled together, investigating the depths of the great marsh, but they both perished within. Even our two cultivation realms' fortunes were affected. Since then, neither Cangyuan nor Tianli has had a Spirit Transformation Cultivator appear."
Ning Fa's expression trembled. He immediately thought of what Bing Chen had said about seeing two Spirit Transformation corpses in that mysterious lake. It seemed they were the Pavilion Master of the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion and the Tianli Spirit Transformation cultivator. He hadn't expected them to be the last two Spirit Transformation cultivators of the two great cultivation realms.
At this moment, a look of emotion appeared in Hermit Xuyuan's eyes, and he continued, "However, before their demise, the Ancestor also transmitted some crucial information back to the sect. According to the Ancestor, in the deepest part of the Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh, there is a place called the [Abyssal Heavenly Pool]. It hides great opportunities, but also great dangers. In fact, these dangers are difficult even for Spirit Transformation cultivators to handle, which is why the two Spirit Transformation cultivators perished there. At the same time, the Ancestor also left some prophecies. For example, he said that the Abyssal Heavenly Pool would disappear for a long time, which indeed happened. More importantly, the Ancestor said that the Abyssal Heavenly Pool might reappear. And when that time comes, due to changes in the world's spiritual energy, the dangers within the Abyssal Heavenly Pool might decrease, making it possible for us cultivators to enter. The time he predicted for the reappearance of the Abyssal Heavenly Pool is very close, perhaps within these few decades, or even less."
Ning Fa was greatly astonished by this.
This kind of classified information was unknown even to that Ancestor Bing Chen, as it was obtained with the life of the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion's ancestor.
Clearly, the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion's ancestor had ventured deep into the Abyssal Heavenly Pool and acquired some crucial information, leading to these judgments.
Furthermore, if that's the case, the Spirit Transformation cultivator ancestor from the Tianli Cultivation World likely did the same. This would explain why Tianli chose to deploy their forces at this particular time.
The Sea Race might have learned similar news, either through the Ancestral Sea or their kin with Prophecy Talent, which prompted them to attack Cangyuan.
With this realization, many of Ning Fa's previous doubts were resolved.
At the same time, he understood why Hermit Xuyuan was confident in persuading the three major sects of Great Qin.
"So, the envoy sent to Great Qin this time is using this news as leverage to enlist those three major powers?" Ning Fa immediately asked.
Hermit Xuyuan's face showed a hint of a wry smile as he nodded, "Indeed, that's precisely it.
If there were any other way, I would naturally hope that Cangyuan could uncover the secrets of the Abyssal Heavenly Pool on its own.
But given the current situation, compared to the threat of annihilation, the Abyssal Heavenly Pool is no longer significant.
And facing such an opportunity should be enough to persuade them.
Moreover, based on the current information, those three major sects are still top-tier powers in the current Great Qin. Their involvement should make the Cloud Break Demon Race back down and open a passage for us."
Only then did Ning Fa understand why the high-ranking officials of the Elder Council were so confident.
It seemed that the information about the Abyssal Heavenly Pool would likely be further exposed.
The Myriad Bone Gate, located in the Rakshasa Immortal Realm, probably cooperated with Tianli because of this news.
And Tianli's actions were likely due to pressure from the Sea Race, aiming for a swift resolution.
Looking at it this way, it was likely that their small Cangyuan would see many outside forces appearing in the future.
Moreover, even if Great Qin's major powers sent people, it wasn't necessarily a good or bad thing.
After all, their previous actions of establishing branch sects here were not purely motivated. Ning Fa feared that it would be easy to invite gods but difficult to send them away; once they arrived, they might not leave.
The thought of the Yuan Cha Gate, in particular, made Ning Fa's heart sink.
Hermit Xuyuan seemed to sense Ning Fa's thoughts and let out a wry smile, sighing, "Fellow Daoist Ning, given Cangyuan's current situation, we can only take things one step at a time and can't worry about too much else.
Because the current situation might be even more dire than you imagine.
Tianli clearly also knows about the Abyssal Heavenly Pool, and the Myriad Bone Gate's cooperation with them is one reason for this.
From what I know, Tianli is currently building a higher-grade teleportation array to the Rakshasa Immortal Realm in their rear.
Once it's successfully built, the cost of teleportation will be significantly reduced, and there might be a continuous stream of Myriad Bone Gate reinforcements arriving.
The Sea Race, on the other hand, has clearly also learned about the Abyssal Heavenly Pool through unknown means.
We've learned from some clues that the Sea Race is also preparing to send a large number of reinforcements from their rear.
Therefore, Cangyuan is currently as precarious as a nest of eggs, with no room to choose. We have no choice but to drink poison to quench our thirst."
Ning Fa listened, his brow furrowed deeply. The situation was truly terrible.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, only the rustling of bamboo could be heard, creating a somewhat somber atmosphere.
Then, Hermit Xuyuan let out a soft sigh, his gaze fixed intently on Ning Fa.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, to be honest, I was very pessimistic about Cangyuan's situation initially. However, your appearance has given me some confidence.
Our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion has been established for a hundred thousand years and houses countless ancient texts.
I consider myself well-traveled and knowledgeable, but I have never encountered someone like you, who has achieved such terrifying progress in cultivation in such a short period.
Even the core disciples of the powerful Spirit Transformation sects in Great Qin would find it difficult to compare with you.
And it can be foreseen that Cangyuan will become even more chaotic in the future.
Therefore, your improvement in strength is extremely important for Cangyuan.
The reason I arranged to meet you this time is to know what you need.
As long as it can enhance your cultivation and strength, our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion will spare no expense."